The life cycle environmental impacts of the new model radial passenger vehicle tire product was evaluated and compared. the silicon dioxide was added to replace part of the carbon black as filler, with its previous model tire product. The study covers all relevant life cycle stages: from the acquisition of raw materials to the production, use, and end-of-life. The data collected onsite in 2014 by one of the largest Chinese tire companies were used in the assessment. The evaluation is presented in terms of individual impact category according to the CML model. Five impact categories (i.e., global warming potential (GWP), acidification potential (AP), photochemical oxidant creation potential (POCP), eutrophication potential (EP), and human toxicity potential (HTP)) were considered. The research was conducted in accordance with the ISO 14040/14044 standards. The results showed that In all the five impact categories, new model tire product is lower than the previous model in the whole life cycle. It is mostly due to the reduction of the fuel consumption during the use stage, which resulted in replacing part of the carbon black with silicon dioxide. Fuel (gasoline) consumption represents an important contribution to most impact categories, including the GWP, AP, POCP, and EP, during the use stage. Vehicle fuel consumption and its proportion consumed by the tires during the use stage are key factors that contribute to environmental impact during tire life time. The largest contributor to the HTP category is raw material acquisition, mainly because of the impact of the production of organic chemicals. During the raw material acquisition stage, natural rubber, synthetic rubber, carbon black, and organic chemicals represent the largest contribution to the environmental impact categories, which could be mitigated by reducing the use of raw materials, replacing the aromatic oil with environmental oil in the new model tire product.

Firstly, the process of establishing automotive ecology related systems and the necessity of automotive eco-design assessment to carry out were introduced. The overall objective of automotive eco-design assessment about China was described. And then, automotive eco-design assessment system of China was established by screening the most vulnerable index of energy-saving, environmental protection and health impact in all automotive life cycle stages by the approaches of desk information research, business investigation visit and industry expert consultation. Finally, a wide range of automotive eco-design assessment strategy model was proposed.

Firstly, the importance and necessity of automotive eco-design were introduced. And then, the limit standards, testing methods and weight coefficient of basic indexes in assessment index system were pointed out. A linear-type dimensionless automotive eco-design assessment calculation method of individual index was proposed. Finally, the automotive eco-design assessment results calculation method was illustrated.